‘International Women's Day 2009'

Janis Littleboy

• Born - 49 years ago at the then Lady Goodwin Maternity at the Rockhampton Base Hospital.

• Parents - Mum: Gwendolyn Alwaya Doyle, a strong and wonderful Aboriginal woman born in 1926 who at the age of about 2 years along with her family were taken from Taroom and sent to Woorabinda. Mum was sent to work as a domestic as that's what all the young Aboriginal girls were sent to do. This is also how mum met my dad. Mum past away in 1981. Dad: Edward Littleboy was a determined young Australan white man who grew up in little towns out in the bush like Bushly. Dad past away in 1992. When mum and dad had permission they married and had 7 children. They moved around abit in Central Queensland but mostly it was Rockhampton that was home for most of us.

• Early School Years - I attended four primary schools in Rockhampton as we did move a couple of times and completed my year 10 certificate at Rockhampton State High School. I left high school, began work and only ever living outside of Rockhampton less than one year of my life.

• Marriage/Children - I married Mark in 1984 and separated in 1993. I divorced in 1994 and children always lived with me. We had three children Codie 18yrs and Lachlan & Tayla (Twins) 15yrs.

• Employment - I worked a few casual positions after leaving school and gained my first permanent job at Medical Benefits Fund where I worked for 7 years. The next job would last for 15 years at the Capricornia Credit Union. I then decided to work part-time as a medical receptionist for Dr Peter Thompson and was there for 5 years. Once working part-time though I found myself wanting to do more for the community and helping others so decided to do some study.

• Mature Age Student - While continuing to work part-time I went back to studying full-time after turning 40 and completed a Bachelor of Social Work Degree in 2004 and started work straight away at the Women's Health Centre in Rockhampton where I still am today.

• I am proud of my culture and where I come from and will continue to seek knowledge, to be of service and learn from others every day to make a difference and to encourage others to give up hope. I too have had opportunities to learn from others. There are moments when others have had an opportunity to open up or listen to what growing up in a mixed culture was like. How we felt different or excluded because of society's view and to be misinformed about Aboriginal people. Staying positive and focused to the best of my ability was important and I still do this today while I continue to help my own children learn and be proud of who they are, where they come from. To teach our children to learn about Culture and combine this with Education gives them confidence to stand tall and make choices about what they want to achieve.